I liked the old Haley a whole lot better
by socialgal5
Summary: What if Haley hadn't died from stabbing? This is just a little friendship fluff about her and Nick, if she had lived. I REALLY LOVE TAYLOR SWIFT!


_This is just my thoughts on what might have happened between Nick and Haley, should she have survived the stabbing from her adoptive mother…NOTE: THIS DID NOT HAPPEN but I love Taylor Swift too much to let her die._

"What happened?" Nick wanted to know when he arrived at the crime scene.

"Sixteen-year old Haley Jones was stabbed with a pair of scissors. She was found right here in the parking lot," Captain Brass told him.

"Haley was stabbed?" Nick echoed in disbelief.

"You knew her?"

"Yeah, a little," Nick replied. "Where is she?"

"She's in the ambulance over there. They're getting ready to transport her to the hospital. She's fading in and out of consciousness."

Nick practically ran to the ambulance where he saw Haley lying on the stretcher. The EMTs were getting ready to put her inside, but stopped them. "Hang on, fellas, I know this girl."

Haley's skin was so pale, especially in comparison with her dark hair. Her lips were bright red, obviously from some lipstick. Her hands were at her sides helplessly.

"Hey, Haley, it's Nick," he told her, leaning down close to her so she could hear him. She looked dazed and confused.

"Nick…" she whispered hoarsely.

"Haley, I need you to tell me who stabbed you," Nick insisted. "Who did this to you?"

Slowly, Haley reached out her hand to Nick, who took it in his bigger, stronger one. Her grasp was so weak and feeble. "My…mom…" she managed to say, trying to find the strength down deep.

Nick wasn't expecting her response and he was obviously taken aback by it.

"Sir, we have to get her to the hospital now," the EMTs told him. "She's lost a lot of blood."

"Okay," he replied to them. Then, he looked back down at the beautiful teenage girl. "You're going to be fine, Haley. I'll see you soon, okay?" He bent down and kissed her forehead lightly in a very affectionate, tender gesture.

"Thank…you…" she whispered to him, giving his hand a pitifully weak squeeze.

A few hours later, Nick went to the hospital to see Haley. They'd finally gotten a confession from her adoptive mother, who admitted that she'd gotten enraged when she'd seen Haley's new hairstyle. She had followed her outside and, in a rage, had stabbed Haley with a pair of scissors, then left her to die in the parking lot. The weapon had been found in a dumpster behind the motel and Mrs. Jones was headed to jail for a long time, facing charges for the murder of Tanya Carrow and the attempted murder of Haley Jones.

Haley was sleeping soundly in ICU when Nick arrived. He met the doctor outside.

"How's she doing?" he asked, nodding towards Haley.

"She'll be fine in a few weeks. It's a miracle that the scissors slanted at just the right angle or else she'd be dead. The blades missed the major arteries and I expect her to make a full recovery," the doctor replied confidently.

"Did you find any drugs in her system?" Nick wanted to know. He was almost afraid to hear the answer, afraid that Haley might have been screwing her life up really bad.

"No, she was clean. No evidence of any illegal drug use, sir. She's a very lucky young woman."

"I'll say," Nick said absently, more to himself than the doctor. " Will it be okay if I visit with her for a little while?"

The doctor nodded approvingly. "Just don't excite her and don't wear her out. Don't stay for too long at one time."

The doctor turned to walk away, but then he stopped suddenly. "I heard on the news that the girl's mother was the one who stabbed her. Is that true?"

Nick nodded reluctantly. "Yes, sir. That's right."

When Nick sat down in the chair beside Haley's bed, her eyes blinked open and she looked at him for a few seconds, then realized who he was.

"Nick!" she exclaimed quietly. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see how you were doing. The doctor says you're going to make a full recovery." Nick took her hand in his and this time, her grasp felt stronger.

"Yeah, my dad was here earlier. He told me I was going to be okay, but then he had to leave. Did…did you get my Mom to tell you what happened?"

Nick grew serious. "She confessed to stabbing you, Haley. She also confessed to murdering Tanya Carrow, the woman you found in the motel room one day."

"What?" Haley gasped. "Why did she do that?"

"You're gonna have to talk to your dad tell you about that," Nick told her. "It's not really my place."

Haley was obviously curious, but she was mature enough to not push the subject. "Thank you for coming to the motel, Nick," she said. "I hoped it would be you that came." She looked down a little. "I've screwed my life up pretty bad, didn't I?"

"The doctor said you didn't have any drugs in your system," Nick remarked. "He said you were clean."

"I've never did drugs, I swear!" Haley insisted, sitting up a little.

Nick stood up and eased her back down onto the pillow. " I believe you, but those piercings of yours look mighty different from the girl I met a year ago. I gotta say, I liked the old Haley a whole lot better."

"I did too," she admitted, blushing from shame. "I was just trying to make my mom mad—I wanted to know that she actually cared about me. I just didn't expect her to stab me like that."

Nick couldn't be certain, but he thought he saw several tears in the corners of her eyes, so he reached up and pushed some strands of black hair away form her pale face. "You're gonna be just fine," he assured her. "But we've got to get you back to the old you."

"Some hair dye will take care of that," Haley laughed. The laughing caused her to wince sharply and she pressed her hands against her wound.

"Take it easy, girl, or I'll have to leave," Nick exclaimed, immediately becoming concerned.

"No! Please don't leave," Haley begged him. "At least stay here until I fall back to sleep. Please, Nick?"

The handsome young man smiled. "Yeah, Haley, I'll stay." He reached up and turned the light off and pulled the covers up around the teenage girl in the bed.

"Goodnight, Nick," she told him.

"Goodnight, Haley," Nick replied.


End file.
